Both arcs are uniquely entertaining with a very nice, dark twist in the middle. The pacing is good in my opinion. I love how many of the episodes were action-packed with a good balance of political, high school, and personal drama. The story did really well in terms of the themes and character development.
[ Some harmless SPOILERS ahead ]
Because of the concept of materializing human hearts into weapons, it plays a good role in really distinguishing a diversity of characters. I really appreciate the depth in each character. I can see the main character, Shu Ouma, getting a bunch of hate, which I do not quite understand. The character development done on Shu was executed very well. He starts off as a coward (which explains why later on in the series) and becomes a real figure and hero. Guilty Crown did really well on covering the theme of duty. Shu is, later, stuck in a sticky situation where he must lead his school and peers, and take responsibility for all the blood on his hands. He is torn between his duty to his friends, duty to protect everyone as a leader, and duty to himself. Because of this dilemma, he is seen as a tyrant by his friends and peers and is hated for it. Let's not forget he is 17. He is really just a kid. And he gets a lot of crap for doing the right thing and making difficult decisions for the best. He is betrayed and knocked down to the lowest level, and he is able to pick himself up and continue fighting despite everything that has happened to him. And even after ALL THAT, he still finds forgiveness in his heart and remains true to himself. How do you hate a character like this? Shu Ouma is a hero who bears the burden of using his friends and classmates as weapons and sacrificing his reputation and face for the sake of everyone's safety. His character has grown the most and that is the job as the main character. Really well done on that part.
Overall, I really enjoyed the series. Guilty Crown is very influencing on me. This anime has a creative story base, good characters, really good character development, strong themes, good pacing, and a fair ending. The execution and production was really well done. The art and animation were amazing. If you can't take an anime with a lot of depth and heart, and requires a bit of understanding and analyzing, then this is not the anime for you. Don't just throw around crap ratings because you cannot see the bigger message behind a good anime.
